Mice and mice traps

[SunnyWalker]

I have read of the buckets in Main (plastic bucket with water in bottom, peanut butter on sides, placed rightly, mice climb up and try to reach in for peanut butter and fall in, thus drowning), and of hikers carrying mouse traps, dogs and cats and etc. Do YOU carry a mouse trap or have you used a "bucket"? What have you found to work to reduce mice and rodent problem at the shelters? Maybe you love the mice? What is the record for executing the little rodents? -SunnyWalker :sun

[CrumbSnatcher]

cook away from shelters, eat all your cooked food instead of throwing it out. hang your food properly. don't kill the snakes. and hike a few more miles every day so you don't waste time thinking of this crap LOL

[Lone Wolf]

http://www.d-conproducts.com/ i put it in a 100ft. radius of shelters. kills all kinds of critters

[kayak karl]

. Do YOU carry a mouse trap
I used this for years, lots of fun for kids of all ages:banana

[SunnyWalker]

Hey Kayak: ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, yuk, hee, hee, ho, ho -Barney the mouse

[Jim Adams]

my cat Ziggy ate 11 mice at Blood Mountain Shelter that I saw...don't know how many total there.

geek

[SunnyWalker]

Jim: how long did you carry (I assume you carried the cat) on the AT?

[SunnyWalker]

Well, really though, I would like to hear about mouse traps and so forth. Not degerante into a argument about dogs and cats on the trail.

[fiddlehead]

I carried 3 mouse traps (the small wooden ones) for a while. Would'nt take long to catch 3 at shelters. Some folks didn't like the idea.
If you don't use shelters, it's not much of a problem although one would be a good idea.

I did the bucket thing you talked about at my garage in PA. Works great. But the water freezes up and then it's a feeding tray for them.

I think ideally, you would carry the mousetraps, stay near shelters and eat your catch every night. Then you wouldn't have to carry food. (but you'd have to use the bucket method as 20-25 mouse traps would weigh you down) (I think you'd need at least that many)

Anybody read that Farley Mowat book when he ate mice many different ways to see how the wolves lived?

[Jim Adams]

Jim: how long did you carry (I assume you carried the cat) on the AT?

Ziggy walked to Gooch Gap then rode the rest of the way...everything but the Smokies and Baxter.
It was very odd... people would set the wooden traps and others would really get down on them because they were killing "wildlife" but when Ziggy caught and ate the mice they all thought that it was "so cute."

If everybody carried 1 trap and set it every night then it may make a dent in the mouse population but probably never do away with them. They are a part of shelter life...either tolerate them or camp away from the shelters.

geek

[SunnyWalker]

Wow, it sounds like we ought to make it required for hiking the AT. Everyone must carry and use one mouse trap.

[Monkeywrench]

Wow, it sounds like we ought to make it required for hiking the AT. Everyone must carry and use one mouse trap.

Except it is illegal where the trail is in National Parks, which prohibit the killing of ANY wildlife. I doubt you'd ever get cited for killing mice, but you never know.

[Mother's Finest]

if you have a mouse problem in your home or business, the best way to take care of it is with a live trap.

You have the ability to catch multiple mice in one setting, requires no bait, and allows the freedom to either kill or release your quarry.

the shelters are not secure. you can kill as many mice as you want, they will always come back.

peace
mf

[Blue Jay]

They are a part of shelter life...either tolerate them or camp away from the shelters.

geek

Exactly....I like shelter mice, but my cat sleeps on my gear because it smells so bad. Mice NEVER go near my stuff. I you put your face to the outside of a shelter fewer mice run over your face

[Blue Jay]

Well, really though, I would like to hear about mouse traps and so forth.

Am I the only one who finds this an extremely strange statement.:banana

[Undershaft]

Shelters are not your home or apartment. Why would you even bother killing the mice? Do you plan on moving into a shelter? Lets face it, most hikers will never spend more than one night at any given shelter, so killing mice won't do anything to make the shelter better for the hiker doing the killing. The dead mice will be replaced very quickly. Mice have many litters a year. The hikers will not win because the mice will always have superior numbers. Not to mention the peripheral damage to surrounding wildlife like snakes and owls, whose primary diet consists of mice.

I don't understand your motivation in wanting to kill mice. Most hikers I've met wouldn't even dream of killing wildlife on the trail. Yes, mice count as wildlife. When we go into the woods, we are on their turf and we should respect their right to live. If mice bother you, stay away from the shelters. I've been section hiking the trail for years and I've only seen shelter mice once. They are not a big problem.

Remember, mice are part of the food chain. If you kill mice, you kill everything that feeds on them, and that kills the larger carnivores that ate the animals that ate the mice, and so on....
I like seeing wildlife on the trail and I'm sure others do as well. Please satisfy your rodent bloodlust elsewhere.

[Cosmo Rules]

Thou shalt not kill...

[Footslogger]

[quote=SunnyWalker;679342]I have read of the buckets in Main (plastic bucket with water in bottom, peanut butter on sides, placed rightly, mice climb up and try to reach in for peanut butter and fall in, thus drowning), and of hikers carrying mouse traps, dogs and cats and etc.
=====================================

Saw that system last year with my own eyes up at the Harrison Fish Camp in Maine, just south of the Kennebeck. Seemed to work quite well. The bucket was loaded with drowned mice in the morning.

'Slogger

[NICKTHEGREEK]

seems to be an excellent thread for why you should avoid shelters

[minnesotasmith]

Mice have many litters a year. The hikers will not win because the mice will always have superior numbers. Not to mention the peripheral damage to surrounding wildlife like snakes and owls, whose primary diet consists of mice.

Either the mice in and around trail shelters can reproduce essentially endlessly, where hiker efforts to signficantly reduce their numbers are doomed to ineffectiveness, OR such efforts can cause problems for wildlife that relies heavily on mice in their diet. Which of these two irreconcilable positions do you want to go with?

I will add that I hate mice, that anyone who kills one is fine by me. I just didn't carry anything to kill them with north of Neels Gap during my thruhike BC I saw that as a diversion of effort from my goal. Humans own the land the AT passes through, after all, and mice are there on sufferance. Pests only live BC they're not yet worth the effort to kill, with what means we have.

[canoehead]

The meek shall inherit the earth. And remember if you kill the mouse it is then referd to as meeses pieces......

[Tankerhoosen]

Not only does a bucket of water work well so does a half filled sink... someone at my fire department didnt drain sink after cleaning something, next time we were in there there was a floater....

[The Weasel]

In most, if not all, of the AT lands, killing shelter mice is illegal. I won't say technically illegal, because it's not a mere technicality: Land use agencies have legitimate reasons for not wanting rodents or other small wildlife killed, including that they are important parts of the food chain for other, larger animals. This is a reason why D-Con and other baits are even more illegal, since they kill higher (and sometimes protected ) level mammals (such as foxes) and birds (including owls and eagles) who eat the baited animals (which would include squirrels, shrews, snakes and others). While citations may not be common, laws exist to be observed, not to be "gotten away with" when one can.

Yes, shelter mice and other vermin can be annoying and, in some cases (hanta virus comes to mind) dangerous. That is a reason to avoid some or even all shelters that are badly infested.

TW

[Nearly Normal]

"I hate meeses to pieces".

[Blissful]

I was going to say something about other stuff people do illegally at or near shelters besides mouse traps, but decided I'd better not... :)

Anyway - avoid the issue and tent. It's much nicer and healthier.

[Pony]

I only had one mouse incident where the perpetrator had to be killed. I had a mouse chew through my tent at Gooch Mountain shelter going after a bag of peanuts that I had accidentally left in my pack. After I hung my pack and everything but my sleeping bag on the bear cable the mouse just wouldn't go away. After repeated attempts to keep the mouse out of my tent, without success, I eventually clubbed him with my hiking pole inside the tent. I felt pretty bad considering that it was my own fault that the mouse came into my tent in the first place. After that I double checked my pack every night, ziplocked all food, unzipped all of the pockets and hung my food bag, including stove, cook pot and toothpaste every night and never had another problem. If you mouse proof your gear and food there should be no need to kill a mouse. Yes I know I sound like a hypocrite since I openly admit to killing a mouse, but having one crawling on you inside your tent at three in the morning makes you wake up with a little bit of an attitude.

[Nearly Normal]

In most, if not all, of the AT lands, killing shelter mice is illegal. I won't say technically illegal, because it's not a mere technicality: Land use agencies have legitimate reasons for not wanting rodents or other small wildlife killed, including that they are important parts of the food chain for other, larger animals. This is a reason why D-Con and other baits are even more illegal, since they kill higher (and sometimes protected ) level mammals (such as foxes) and birds (including owls and eagles) who eat the baited animals (which would include squirrels, shrews, snakes and others). While citations may not be common, laws exist to be observed, not to be "gotten away with" when one can. TW


Horse hockey!
I hope a warden writes me up for a rat killing.

[Sly]

Bad karma is a bitch

[Nearly Normal]

Bad Karma charges?

[notorius tic]

I tied a piece of rope around a big rock, set it on the bench at the front of the shelter an put a little oatmeal out under the KILL ZONE. Thus pulling the rope an BANG. It was raining I was BORED got 5 that night.

[SunnyWalker]

Notorius Tic: sounds like fun. Where was this?
Canoehead-Good. Really good remark! :-)
On mice traps, does not sound like much variation used except for regular wooden ones. As far as feeling guilty about killing mice, or against the law in Federal Parks, and etc., lame. don't even bother to use these arguments. If you like the mice so much go to Asia.

[fiddlehead]

Notorius Tic: sounds like fun. Where was this?
Canoehead-Good. Really good remark! :-)
If you like the mice so much go to Asia.


Nah, don't see many mice here, it's ANTS that are the big problem with leaving food out. Doesn't take them long to find it. And then within 10 minutes there's a billion of em. (hard to stop a billion)

[Nearly Normal]

Be sure to take your permit/trapper license..............for each state you hike thru. :D

[SunnyWalker]

Oh ya, now here we go-Ant Traps!

[Newb]

I prefer a stainless steel tub with an acid bath in it. This way when the mice fall in there's no evidence in the morning. muahahaha...muaAHA hA ha HA...MUAHAHAHAHA!!!

err....mmm..sorry got a bit carried away.

[SunnyWalker]

Maybe we can string up mice nets? Put food on once side of the net, mouse dives for it and gets caught in net. Maybe electric nets???

[The Weasel]

Horse hockey!
I hope a warden writes me up for a rat killing.

Well, NN, there aren't many rats, actually, along the Trail, other than in towns. But what part of land management don't you agree with? Some species of mice are on the federal endangered species list. Do you know which ones? How to distinguish those from others? Do you care?

Much of the fauna, and significant part of the flora, along the AT (and any other semi-wilderness area) is dangerous, or at least irritating, to humans. That includes birds, snakes, many insects, and mammals small (such as mice) and large (such as bear). For about 500 years, we've intentionally killed off anything that was irritating, including hawks, wolves, foxes, grizzlies and a lot more. Unintentionally, and the list of massively reduced animal populations runs into the thousands. These are not good things. Not just in the "I love Bambi" sense, but in the sense that serious ecological damage, affecting our own standards of life, results.

It would be more refreshing to some, I know, to camp without insects, without troubling mice, without dangerous bears, without poisonous snakes. But what would be the point? If that's what you want, your own home is probably better.

TW

[skinny minnie]

Anybody read that Farley Mowat book when he ate mice many different ways to see how the wolves lived?

I read that! I really like some of his books. That was a good one.

And I agree with the people who has already stated this:

If mice are really a problem for you, why not just sleep away from shelters? I kind of fail to see the appeal of them anyway... except maybe in a torrential downpour.

[Nearly Normal]

Some species of mice are on the federal endangered species list. Do you know which ones? How to distinguish those from others? Do you care?TW

Nope...

[kayak karl]

Jeremiah Johnson: Just where is it I could find mice and other critters worth cash money when skinned?Robidoux: Ride due east as the sun sets. Turn left at the Smokey Mountains.

[Bare Bear]

When I had a problem with a mouse in a shelter I just kind of threw it to the other side. Pretty funny for everyone except the girl it landed on.........now TICKS. Let's discuss killing ticks because I got Lyme Disease.

[SunnyWalker]

I don't have any ticks, I'm on muscle relaxants!! Ha, ha, ha, ho, ho, hee, hee, ha, -just kidding.

[modiyooch]

I cannot tolerate mice; therefore, I don't stay at shelters. I cannot comprehend the desire to stay at shelters.

[Lone Wolf]

I cannot tolerate mice; therefore, I don't stay at shelters. I cannot comprehend the desire to stay at shelters.

only lawyers who are sympathetic towards vermin do. truth

[modiyooch]

only lawyers who are sympathetic towards vermin do. truth I started a new thread to debate staying in shelters.

[Bare Bear]

Gee LW, when I checked the dictionary Vermin and Lawyers were on the same page.

[Wise Old Owl]

Mice have many litters a year. The hikers will not win because the mice will always have superior numbers. .

They are coming to get you!

http://www.elbakin.net/plume/xmedia/fantasy/news/comics/mice-templar1.jpg

[minnesotasmith]

They are coming to get you!



That was written by Undershaft. I mentioned what he said to point out that his position included two irreconcilable claims, and wondered which of them he was inclined to abandon.

[smaaax]

Nothing was more annoying than when I shared a shelter with some guys using mouse traps. SNAP in the middle of the night waking up everyone in the shelter. Not worth it.

[Wise Old Owl]

Fair enough, Tis nothing more than harmless fun.

[SurferNerd]

I enjoy the mice, as long as my gear is not being raided. They are providing cleanup service to us, lol.

[slow]

People spend big money on gear.
Need more snakes and a 500 SW for the 400lb blacks on the A.T.

[middle to middle]

I used garlic cloves to protect stuff in barn from squirrels bet mice avoid it too.

[dessertrat]

Humans own the land the AT passes through, after all, and mice are there on sufferance. Pests only live BC they're not yet worth the effort to kill, with what means we have.

The bears, bees, raccoons, birds, and trees are also on the land "at our sufferance." Mice do not simply inhabit shelters. They are one of the most common rodents in the forest, shelters or not. I don't have strong feelings one way or the other, but to see them as pests only and not as part of the environment seems wrong to me. Granted, we create a mini-nuisance by building a shelter, which tends to draw mice to the food crumbs found there, but mice belong in the forest too.

[TD55]

Does everthin about mouses apply to rats or is rats different?

[Tipi Walter]

Jeremiah Johnson: Just where is it I could find mice and other critters worth cash money when skinned?Robidoux: Ride due east as the sun sets. Turn left at the Smokey Mountains.

Old Mountain Man: Is that mice you got cooking on you fire?? Jeremiah Johnson: Why? Grown particular?

[middle to middle]

Rats are smarter and of course bigger. I used to jog in NYC early in the morning and the rats in garbage on the street would take you on and attack if you bothered them. The mice are more timid but persistent. I carry garlick and that works.

[TD55]

Like most other available edibles on the trail, mouses just aren't worth the effort and time it takes to catch them and clean them. I can understand berrys and greens, maybe some arrowroot for adding to raman or rice, but most of the stuff you can find on the trail, such as mouses takes to long to process. Rat on the otherhand, rat can be quickly skinned, put on a spit and roasted over a fire. Shelter rats are mostly good sized critters during hiker season. Guess they get plenty to eat. 'bout 3 of em make a pretty good meal, just like squirel.

[SunnyWalker]

lskjf slksjf

[OldStormcrow]

One cold (-0) night while camping solo at Derricks Knob Shelter in the Smokies I got bored and threw an open pack of MRE fortified cheese spread over in the corner to keep the mice away from me and the fireplace. I would sit there sipping my Irish whiskey until a crowd had gathered around the "cheese" spread, then beam them with a flashlight and try to hit one of them with a thrown rock. I did this for hours until one time that I beamed them and found a huge black rat. This was when I was young and stupid(er). Not only does this make a mess, piss off people in the shelter, encourage wildlife to un-naturally depend on humans, etc......it's their woods, not mine. Now that I have become a much mellower old hippy I go out of my way to avoid killing mice, rattlesnakes, or anything else that I used to consider pests. Do everybody a favor and cook away from the shelters, hang your food, unzip all of your pack's pockets at night and enjoy the wildlife....you're their guest, after all.

[NICKTHEGREEK]

only lawyers who are sympathetic towards vermin do. truth
Amen, Amen, Amen

[NICKTHEGREEK]

Does everthin about mouses apply to rats or is rats different?
A Rat is a lawyer who has been elected

[stranger]

I admit that mice at shelters are a problem, but I think we need to think about why mice tend to flock to shelters - hikers. I've never had a problem with mice when I tented out, I just hang my food and all is well.

Mice are just another reason to avoid sleeping in shelters.

[minnesotasmith]

I've never had a problem with mice when I tented out...

In Virginia, one time when I tented, and my pack was outside my tent, I had two small pack straps almost chewed through during the night.

[Jack Tarlin]

So Nick thinks that a rat is a lawyer who has been elected.

If memory serves, that list would include John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, Abraham Lincon, Woodrow Wilson, and FDR, just to name a few.

Not a bad group of rats there, Nick. :D

[OregonHiker]

So Nick thinks that a rat is a lawyer who has been elected.

If memory serves, that list would include John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, Abraham Lincon, Woodrow Wilson, and FDR, just to name a few.

Not a bad group of rats there, Nick. :D

Not all americans would agree that Andrew Jackson belongs on that list.
That whole "Trail of Tears" thing ya know :mad:

[bathtub boy]

i use to hang a rock tied to a string that ran over the kingpost of the shelter, down to where i would sleep. a spot of peanut butter below the hanging rock, and pancake the filthy vermin.

[bmac]

Why carry a cat on the trail when you could carry a snake? You could probably keep it in a Nalgene bottle with some holes poked in the top for ventilation.

[NICKTHEGREEK]

So Nick thinks that a rat is a lawyer who has been elected.

If memory serves, that list would include John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, Abraham Lincon, Woodrow Wilson, and FDR, just to name a few.

Not a bad group of rats there, Nick. :D
Exceptions to every rule

[Gumbi]

This thread is ridiculously funny to me!

I guess I would be in LW's camp (no pun intended) and say that the best solution would be to just avoid the shelters altogether...

But...

I have to laugh at those of you who believe that killing those mice would be wrong. Don't give me the old "It's their habitat, not mine" argument. Mice exist in more places than just the shelters on the AT, they even live in my house!

Not only that, but just because we humans have the ability to reason and think does not mean that the woods somehow are not a part of our habitat. Lots of animals kill mice, including humans, but I never hear anyone complain when other animals kills mice, so why would you complain if a human wanted to kill mice?:-?

Ok, I guess I'll stop ranting now. I did like the bucket full of water trap to silently drown the mice...

[SunnyWalker]

How about poison? One could leave it under the shelter and it would probably killed hundreds, thousands of mice and rats. Might do in a few other animals too, but they are probably pests also. D-con would belight and easy to pick up along the trail I'll bet. You would sure be doing hikers who follow you a favor.

[Yahtzee]

Not surprisingly D-Con ('01, '02) has to be the most prolific trail mice killer. He was diligent. He would get up at all hours of the night, remove the caught rodent, reset the trap and record time of death in the register. Then in the morning he would line the critters up behind the shelter for a viewing. Can't quite remember his record for 1 night, but I think his sweet spot was the BRP.

[Bearpaw]

You could simply avoid eating inside a shelter. This has made a HUGE difference in the Smokies, where the long porched kitchen areas mean any mice run out to the far edge where the kitchen edge is located. I spent 8 nights with my wife in Smokies shelters this past summer. While we saw a couple of mice run out to the kitchen area, not once did a mouse run over me in a shelter or mess with my pack, like they sometimes did when I thru-hiked.

Now if I could just hang my hammock in the Smokies at shelters, I'd be truly content.

[soggybottoms]

Do mice overpopulate shelters cuase there is a food source???Then this would cuase an in balance to the natural cycle wouldn.t it???So by romoving some mice along the way only helps restore the natural balance,,I am a mouse trapper and find some small relief as the trap snaps at midnight few chuckles and its deep snoozin

[SunnyWalker]

Yahtze: Hey, thanks for the tale. That was great. Har, har.

[Twofiddy]

Simply put the reason for the mice is dirty humans.

So either we need an increase in the snake population, or people must start to clean up there crap.

I would be in favor of a second seperate pavillion style lean to at many shelters where there is a bad problem to use as a place for people to cook.

However, another cure for this problem would be for hiking clubs to occasionally scrub down the shelters with some kind of biodegradable soap and water. I dont remember a single mouse at the first shelter north of Caladonia State Park in PA. Nice spring out front, great care taker who touches up shelter paint daily, and keeps things washed up real nice.

Other shelters were flat out gross.

[Bill Strickland]

I did use a mousetrap in '02, and caught quite a few of the little buggers. I actually caught 12 in one shelter. Jakebrake

[OldStormcrow]

When they took the fences off of the front of the shelters in the Smokies the mice population dropped a good bit. This could be because people are not cooking in their bunks so much anymore (bad idea!), or it could be that the skunks can get to the mice now. At Icewater Springs Shelter (seriously over-used and nasty) there was a skunk that worked until late at night chasing down and consuming the mice. I'm going to look and try to find the photo I have of him (Charlie the skunk) curling around between my feet and brushing up against me like a tame housecat. As it was about 0 degrees that night he curled up on the hearth and went to sleep while we sat around having late night libations.

[SunnyWalker]

Bill, what size trap? What was the bait? Was this in one night?

[SunnyWalker]

What size mousetraps are most of you taking on the AT? do you just use the smallest size?

[Jim Adams]

Why carry a cat on the trail when you could carry a snake? You could probably keep it in a Nalgene bottle with some holes poked in the top for ventilation.

A snake eats 1-2 mice every few weeks....thats 15 minutes with a cat!:cool:

geek

[Yahtzee]

What size mousetraps are most of you taking on the AT? do you just use the smallest size?

D-Con, the master of mice-trapping, chose American-made traps on the theory that it is asian mice that inhabit the Appalachian forest and he figured they had figured out how to get around the asian-made ones. Sounds specious, but he had better luck with American-made ones.

[Nearly Normal]

D-Con, the master of mice-trapping, chose American-made traps on the theory that it is asian mice that inhabit the Appalachian forest and he figured they had figured out how to get around the asian-made ones. Sounds specious, but he had better luck with American-made ones.

Chinese mouse traps?:D

[slow]

Why not ...just eat them?

[gaga]

just use the Chinese finger trap, put some cheese in the middle, and you catch 1 on each end :D

[SunnyWalker]

How about BB gun/pistols??

[Slo-go'en]

How about BB gun/pistols??
You'll shot your eye out kid :eek:

I had a live mouse trap snap on my arm once. Was hidden in a dark corner on the upper deck of a shelter in SNP. Had me cussing for 20 minutes!

[Panzer1]

people kill mice because they have a cruel streak that is satisfied by killing them.

Panzer

[yaduck9]

Wow, it sounds like we ought to make it required for hiking the AT. Everyone must carry and use one mouse trap.


LOL......Or perhaps it should be required to hike with a cat! ;)

[saimyoji]

people kill mice because they have a cruel streak that is satisfied by killing them.

Panzer

or because they are tasty :)

[Ekul]

TREX mouse traps. made of plastic, easy to set up, can do with one hand in under a second. Weigh approx 5oz.

Those who think killing mice and rats is wrong must have never been infested with em. Took 6months of my life to get my home back.

Just remember stay away from the walls and corners as this is where they travel--they have very poor eyesight. You will only once not store you food at a shelter bc the next morning you will have to throw it all away being you have rat poop all over your food and gear.

[4eyedbuzzard]

Just curious...why would one venture into the woods at all if they thought mice or any other wildlife had to be killed to somehow make their wilderness experience better, safer, or whatever? If you're that worried about getting disease from woodland animals or having mice chew into your food bag it's probably best to stay at home. Personally, I'd be more concerned about catching disease from all the dead mice hikers might kill and just leave lying around, or catching a cold or the flu from other hikers or eating bad food in a town. Mice live in shelters for the same reason people do--food and shelter. But even if you camp away from shelters there are still plenty of mice out there. Mice are probably the most common mammal in the country with the exception of bats.

[Kanati]

When I got my first Red Ryder B-B gun at about 12 years of age, (1958), anything that moved was fair game. I once got a rabbit for the spit by shooting it thru the eye. That's just the way it was in the country where hunting was/is the norm and little boys were half savage. Late at night when things quieted down I would sit by the fireplace and shoot mice that came around the base board going to and from the kitchen. That early training has served me well in hunting larger game.

But on the trail, I consider mice a part of the shelter experience and wouldn't harm one. At Blood Mtn Shelter one was scratching in my hair, I guess because I was laying too close to the wall which was his road.

Happy hiking. :sun

[tuswm]

because of my job I only winter hike. I have not seen a single mouse on the AT yet. The other good thing about winter hiking is that you dont have to carry a tent. The shelters are empty, not even a mouse.

[saimyoji]

because of my job I only winter hike. I have not seen a single mouse on the AT yet. The other good thing about winter hiking is that you dont have to carry a tent. The shelters are empty, not even a mouse.

Much warmer to sleep in a tent.

[jrwiesz]

Thou shalt not kill...

Eat 'em alive.:D

[WritinginCT]

The philosophical argument about whether or not its right to kill them aside - I don't think I would appreciate hearing "SNAP" "SNAP" "SNAP" all night from the traps as I tried to sleep.

(lol another tic in the plus column for tenting!)

[Worldwide]

The best mouse killing system contains
1 glow in the dark sticker
1 ramen noodle wrapper
1 dab of peanut butter
1 boot

Directions

First put 1 dab of peanut butter in the bottom of the ramen

Second listen for the rustle of the ramen noodle wrapper

Lastly look for the glow in the dark sticker smash the crap out of it with your boot

deposit mouse carcass wherever you like repeat as necessary until the local mouse population is erradicated

[Worldwide]

Oh make sure to affix the glow in the dark sticker on the ramen wrapper

[OldStormcrow]

because of my job I only winter hike. I have not seen a single mouse on the AT yet. The other good thing about winter hiking is that you dont have to carry a tent. The shelters are empty, not even a mouse.

Try the Smokies shelters in the winter. The mice are so fierce and savage that's it's something akin to an Alfred Hitchcock experience when it's just you and them on a -0 night!

[cathy]

the mice are there because humans are there. leave them alone. don't like mice camp.

[SunnyWalker]

BB gun pistol or would a BB gun rifle be lighter? pROBABLY MORE FUN WITH THE RIFLE!

[1-2-Many]

I also use the bucket trick - but to save on resources I carry my peanut butter covered - half full bucket of water from shelter to shelter.

[wrongway_08]

If your going to kill the mice, do in a quick manner, mouse trap.

Hikers who have thought it fun to "torture" the mice for fun have ended up loosing some of their gear when it gets tossed in the woods or hidden where they cant find it.

Better to just leave them alone - dont like them camp.

[jrwiesz]

or because they are tasty :)

Great with Louisiana hot sauce!:D

[mister krabs]

If your going to kill the mice, do in a quick manner, mouse trap.

Hikers who have thought it fun to "torture" the mice for fun have ended up loosing some of their gear when it gets tossed in the woods or hidden where they cant find it.

Better to just leave them alone - dont like them camp.

Dude, do you really mess with people's gear because you dissapprove of their treatment of vermin?

"Vermin Faulty! Vermin!"

[fiddlehead]

or because they are tasty :)

More advantages living here in Asia.
I took this picture last week at a local market.
They even skin em for ya.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg201/fiddleheadpa/wrat.jpg

[4eyedbuzzard]

http://www.bagophily.com/images/barf.gifThanks alot for that imagehttp://www.bagophily.com/images/barf.gif


I hate flashing back to biology class while eating.

[Tin Man]

Do mice have bacon?

[fiddlehead]

http://www.bagophily.com/images/barf.gifThanks alot for that imagehttp://www.bagophily.com/images/barf.gif


I hate flashing back to biology class while eating.

My wife brought my dinner over to me while i was uploading that pic.
Fish.
I kept thinking it wasn't fish. I understand your difficulties.

Sorry if the picture offends some. But we ARE talking mouse traps here. (i know, they are big for mice)

[rickb]

http://whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=5534&catid=searchresults&searchid=21251

Magnet's photo says it all.

[Highpointbound]

Dude, do you really mess with people's gear because you dissapprove of their treatment of vermin?


That's what I thought too. :rolleyes: I mean dang, you can be all for
"Mice Rights" or whatever, but messing with the gear of HUMANS out on the trail is the "wrong way" to do it. Pun intended on the poster's forum name. :D

[middle to middle]

Why don't the owls go after the shelter mice? I had an owl swoop down and grab a chipmunk right in front of me one day.

[MOWGLI]

People sitting on their computer thinking about how they are going to kill mice in the shelters have WAY too much time on their hands, and should probably find a way to expend some of that negative energy.

[4eyedbuzzard]

My wife brought my dinner over to me while i was uploading that pic.
Fish.
I kept thinking it wasn't fish. I understand your difficulties.

Sorry if the picture offends some. But we ARE talking mouse traps here. (i know, they are big for mice)

Wasn't really offended. Just joking. I've dressed and skinned my share of game. I'd eat mice if they were the best choice available.

[cathy]

don't like the muce tent!

[cathy]

oops mice

[Pootz]

Forget everything you have learned on the trail about mice once you get to Maine. The mice and red squirrels up there are crazy. It is hard to keep them out of your food short of taking a bear like canister. They will crawl right around any mouse hanger you can make and climb down any length of rope. You only have luck and the hope that they like someones Else's food bag better than yours. I got lucky my hiking partner carried GORP, way more interesting to the mice than anything I had.

The peanut butter and bucket works great. Most hikers are not overly concerned with the rights of mice once they have put up with them for 2000 miles. You can also out your food in the bucket ,flip it over and put something heavy on the top.

[Plodderman]

I do not do anything but unzip my backpack and move my food to a tree or use a tuna can to keep the mice from gettig to my pack. Other than that I just leave the mice alone.

[buzzamania]

Thou shalt not kill...
What you want to kill is:
A. Tasty frickasee style on a stick, near a bed of hot coals.
B. Annoying
C. See B.

Mice are part of the food chain but they are usually overpopulated and can spread disease. If you know anything about wildlife management you know that you are doing other mice a favor when you feed them to your pet snake or just bury them behind a shelter. I don't take pleasure in taking the life of any creature, but mice and spiders and ticks and mosquitoes are all in the same category. Ever read about the black plague?? With the right trap or poison you could systematically eliminate a lot of pesky, disease prone mice from a shelter over time. Never mind that you are not going to be there the next day. Some one else will and you will be paying it forward. Think of it as trail maintenance.

By the way . . . Never good to misquote or misrepresent the word of God. Moses and his people offered animal sacrifices, using only the finest younglings of their flock (gasp!) I think He may have been referring to killing PEOPLE when he etched your words into stone.

[Blue Wolf]

I found a neat trick is to give them something to play with, during the night ball up a small wad of TP and toss it in the corner.

[Ekul]

easy trap and pretty light

http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/trextrapperkit.htm:D

[boarstone]

I have read of the buckets in Main (plastic bucket with water in bottom, peanut butter on sides, placed rightly, mice climb up and try to reach in for peanut butter and fall in, thus drowning), and of hikers carrying mouse traps, dogs and cats and etc. Do YOU carry a mouse trap or have you used a "bucket"? What have you found to work to reduce mice and rodent problem at the shelters? Maybe you love the mice? What is the record for executing the little rodents? -SunnyWalker :sun
Bucket of anti-freeze, wire thru aluminum can, wire attached to bails on bucket, cans smeared in PB. Anti-freeze prevented smell, still used today.:D

[SunnyWalker]

Well, this has been fun. I opt for the traditional mouse trap. Little wooden thing. Two of them ought to be fun to have along.

[munchie]

In the original Hebrew text it was really "Thou shalt not commit murder", not kill.

[munchie]

Thou shalt not kill...


In the original Hebrew text it was really "Thou shalt not commit murder", not kill.

[shakey_snake]

Pretty sure that in the original Hebrews text it was:

לֹא תִּרְצָֽח׃ ס

[Theosus]

In the original Hebrew text it was really "Thou shalt not commit murder", not kill.



"Thou shalt not kill, unless that person believes in a different invisible sky man than you, then it's perfectly okay" - George Carlin.

[martinb]

I'm a little confused by this one. We go out, into the woods, to enjoy nature and then think of ways to kill it. I don't think there's a mouse problem, there's a people problem.

[bemental]

I'm a little confused by this one. We go out, into the woods, to enjoy nature and then think of ways to kill it. I don't think there's a mouse problem, there's a people problem.

Yep.

It's human nature.

[BirdBrain]

I don't care about rodents. It does not bother me when they die. However, I agree it is our fault. Hikers leave crumbs and garbage in and around shelters and then get frustrated at a creature that is doing what it is designed to do. Don't want rodents around? Take better care of your stuff.

A similar thing happens with cats. I love my birds. My neighbors let their cats roam the neighborhood. Their cats kill the birds I feed. It is easy to get frustrated with the cat. However, the cat is just doing what it is designed to do. People are the problem again.

There is an easier solution to many of these issues. Stop being the problem.

[Francis Sawyer]

Mice are vermin and deserve death.